To Call A Lost Witch
by yelyah5
Summary: While Charlotte's life may have been safe it quickly goes into flames, thrusting her into the magical world, forcing her to contend for herself until she is able to find a mentor to guide her into her true power.
1. Chapter 1

The sunlight caressed the face of the sleeping girl, dancing among the strands of her long blond hair, running along the lines of her body. The girl's eyes fluttered lightly, hinting at the start of her day, and she rolled over onto her back, her arm splayed over the side of the small bed. The sounds of her mother busy in the kitchen echoed in the house, slowly followed by the wafting scent of breakfast.

With a loud thud, the girl fell out of her bed, slamming onto the hard wooden floors, shaking the old wooden boards. Slowly struggling out of the blankets and sheets that had become tangled in an unrestful sleep the girl emerged from the mess, blinking her eyes to the harsh light. Staggering towards the dresser, she threw on the first clothes she managed to get her hands on in a haphazard manner and staggered down the groaning stairs.

"Sit down Charlotte! We need to get some food into you," Charlotte's mother, Lila, explained, hurrying a plate full of eggs, toast, and sausage in front of Charlotte quickly followed by a cold glass of orange juice. Charlotte slowly dug into the food, her eyes barely managing to stay open, while her mother frittered around her, hurrying her up.

"Eat fast Charlotte! We're going to be late, your dad needs us there to support him!" Lila exclaimed, directing her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, Charlotte slowly shuffled into the bathroom, turning the shower on full blast, letting steam slowly fill the room. As Charlotte stepped into the shower, the scalding water burned the sleep from her body. As Charlotte showered she enjoyed the relaxing feeling of the pulsing water, trying to put off the feelings of dread she knew were going to be associated with this day.

"Power of the witches rise, Course unseen across the skies, Come to us who call you near, Come to us and settle here," a disembodied voice chanted drifting around in the bathroom. Charlotte stopped moving and listened for anything more.

"Mom…..?" she called out tentatively, convinced she had heard her mother, but no one answered back. Slightly creeped out, Charlotte turned back to her shower and continued her shower. Finishing up Charlotte hurried into her room, the sounds of her mother rushing around the house speeding Charlotte up. Slipping into a sundress and running a brush through her hair, Charlotte jogged down the stairs, the old wood creaking after her.

Reaching the landing right outside the front door, her mom guided Charlotte outside and into her behemoth SUV, a black hulking thing lurking in the driveway. Charlotte heaved herself into the machine just in time to close the door when her mother whipped out of the driveway backwards, putting it into drive in one swift, harsh movement. Speeding through the small town, Lila took harsh turns and drove a speed slightly under insane, but Charlotte was huddled in a small worn-out paperback she had pulled out from under the seat, used to the maniacal maneuvers of her mother.

Looking over at her daughter, Lila shook her head, in a mix of awe and almost shame, having no idea how her daughter had come about. Both Lila and her husband were image centered, their perfectly coordinated outfits were devoid of any wrinkles and their closets knew no such thing as clashing colors, but their daughter wore a progression of T-shirts from thrift shops with no apparent regard for fashion. Lila always wondered why her daughter never showed off her long, endless legs or the blonde hair that fell from Charlotte's heads in careless rings, usually being swept behind her shoulders.

Reaching a opulent gate, with graceful black bars connecting the posts in elegant lines the hulking SUV slowed to a stop as Lila reached out a punched a quick code into a gleaming number pad. Slowly, but with no creaks or groans, the gates swept open in a graceful path and once open wide enough the SUV gunned it. Speeding through a series of winding roads up a hill the SUV finally emerged from the tree lined road to a series of utter chaos.

In front of the mother and daughter was a imposing mansion-turned-country-club, but its decadence was no longer the forefront of its design, rather the flames rising in the blue sky and licking out of the windows, desperate for air, had taken the attention. People ran around the building like ants, screaming in clothes riddled with burn marks. Charlotte and Lila looked on in abject horror, the SUV idling on the edge of the forested road.

"Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me," the same disembodied voice chanted again. Charlotte swiveled her head quickly, peering at her mother.

"What was that? What did you say?" Charlotte demanded in a panicked voice.

"I…. I, uh, didn't say anything," Lila replied, still staring at the scene unfolding before them, tugging Charlotte back to it as well.

Charlotte, hearing a somewhat familiar scream, turned away from her mother and before she knew it she wrenched the door open and flung herself out of the car and into the chaos that was consuming everything.

"Dad! Dad!" Charlotte screeched, desperately searching for familiarity in the faces that ran passed her. Trying to run into the mansion she was met by a wall of pure heat, rolling out in ever increasing waves. Turning around she ran into a set of strong arms enveloping her and picking her up with no struggle. Looking up, Charlotte stared into the face of a middle aged man she had never seen before, running her way from the fire.

"You're running the wrong way, you need to get out of here," he barked in a gruff voice, still carrying her away. Screaming, Charlotte began to beat at his chest, trying to wrench herself from his grip, but sensing that he wasn't letting go she broke into rolling sobs, soaking the man's chest.

"Don't worry Charlotte, I'll take you home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, so this is my first Fanfiction in a while, I had to make a new profile because all the other ones sucked so badly. This is my first Charmed one so if I make mistakes it'd be cool if you would point them out, but not in a douche-y manner. Anyway, reviews are really appreciated so I can make this better as I progress. So, enjoy.**

The man continued run with Charlotte, but now she began to look around and recognize the setting. Rather than running towards the road, which is where all of the other panicking victims had escaped to, the man had turned the complete opposite way and was now taking Charlotte into in to the dense woods beside the golf green. Sensing something was amiss, Charlotte began, once again, to struggle against the man, trying to get out of his burly arms.

"Let me go!" Charlotte demanded, still pushing with all her strength, but the man paid no attention to her and maintained his pace in the woods. Getting angry now, Charlotte pushed with all her strength, trying to wriggle out from his grip when suddenly in a bright flash Charlotte was dropped suddenly.

Blinking away the blotches in her vision from the flash Charlotte looked around to see the man sitting on the ground, rubbing his arms in surprise. Looking up, they made eye contact and for the first time Charlotte noticed the man's eyes. Rather than a normal color, his eyes were a deep red, seeming to pierce her soul and see right through Charlotte.

"You little witch! You'll pay for that!" the man growled, getting up, with a knife suddenly in his hands. As he advanced on Charlotte, he stopped in his tracks and looked around, suddenly wary. Looking up, the man saw something that wasn't apparent to Charlotte and with a blink of his eyes he was gone.

Unsure of what had just occurred, Charlotte sat, rooted to the same spot in which she had fallen, staring at the place where the man had just disappeared. Leaving no time to recover, orbs of bluish, white light began to descend from the sky slowly. Charlotte stared at the orbs, blinking again, convinced they were left over blotches from the flash. But slowly, and surely, the orbs began to fall in a shower of light, falling away to reveal two women, standing in the same exact spot as the man had.

The first woman had bleach blonde hair falling straight down past her shoulders, she had tan, delicate skin and seemed to be in her mid-thirties. The other woman was rather more plump with brown hair pulled into a taut bun, she was older than the other woman, but her harsh facial expressions made it hard to tell her age. The women looked around until the blonde made eye contact with Charlotte, her startling green eyes roving over her body, a look of surprise in them.

"Helen…." the blonde muttered, nudging her and nodding her head towards Charlotte. Helen looked at Charlotte as well, but the look of surprise wasn't there, rather there was a knowing look on her face, as if she had expected to see Charlotte there. The blonde woman began to walk towards Charlotte, but Charlotte scuttled back, paranoid of the newcomers, her eyes filled with fear.

"Billie, the girl doesn't know. Give her some space," Helen murmured to Billie, the knowing look turning to one of almost kindness. Helen crouched down and continued, "Charlotte? We're here to help you. You need to trust us."

"I don't need to trust shit! I don't know who you people are, where you came from, and frankly I don't give a fuck!" Charlotte screamed, her anger being fueled by the overwhelming fear that had planted itself in her chest.

"Calm down. We're trying to help you!" Billie yelled over Charlotte's angry ranting.

"I don't want your help! All I'm going to do is turn around, get the fuck out of these woods and go home. And you two bitches will doing nothing to stop me? You got that?" Charlotte demanded and did just that. Turning on her heel, Charlotte stomped out of their sight, but once she was out of sight Charlotte took off in a full out sprint, tears streaming down her eyes, racking sobs overtaking her body. Soon Charlotte was unable to run anymore, collapsing down to the ground, she pulled herself into a small ball and began her sobbing in earnest once again.

"We need to go get her," Billy demanded, beginning to set off in the direction that Charlotte had run, but Helen quickly caught her arm and turned her around.

"She needs time. Not everyone can jump into the Craft like you did. And not everyone can handle being kidnapped, let alone by a warlock," Helen explained, soothing Billie. Billie looked at her with slightly angry eyes, but said nothing, and she began pacing around, extremely antsy. "Calm down, Billie, she's my charge. I won't let her get hurt. And I know you won't either."

"How do we know? Warlocks are already after her! She's barely coming into her powers and now she's being expected to ward off Evil by herself? We need to be watching her!" Billie ranted, suddenly infuriated. Her green eyes were glinting in the light, adding to the anger in her face.

"And you can leave that to me. If I need any help from you I can always call and I know that," Helen replied, trying to sooth her, "We don't want to overwhelm her, it could send her to the other side. That's even more dangerous to us. Leave Charlotte to me, I'll take care of her."

"Fine, but don't mess up," Billie sighed, conceding the argument. Grabbing Helen's hand the two left in a swirl of blue and white lights, casting a ephemeral glow on the woods, before fleeing up into the sky.

Down in the murkiest depths of the Underworld, two demons met in secret, their cloaks obscuring all, but their eyes. All around them the dark stone was riddled with burn marks and holes from the countless magical fights. One demon sat on a formation of rocks, seemingly nonchalant, but his body was taut from the waiting. The other demon seemed more relaxed, knowing something the other didn't, but he was still emanating an aura of anger.

The two men seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. Finally, both sensing something, they straightened their backs just in time for a warlock to appear, already kneeling before them. The warlock was alone, not what the two demons had expected, and they shared an angry look.

"Where is the witch?" the first demon demanded, his voice rasping out in a powerful voice, belying the age he truly was.

"I was not able to bring her here," the warlock began, not making eye contact with either demon, preferring to keep his eyes rooted to the ground, "Another witch and a whitelighter interfered."

"And you just let them?" the other demon inquired, standing up and looking down on the warlock.

"The little witch is coming into her powers," the warlock explained, he had begun to slightly shake, afraid of the two demons standing before him, "She incapacitated me."

"A witch that doesn't even know she's a witch took you down? And I was told you were the warlock to go to for things like this," The first demon spat, before opening his palm and conjuring a purple ball, seemingly to consist of fire and electricity. Examining the ball for a minute before deciding the demon threw it at the warlock who, with no time to scream, was enveloped in a sudden combustion of flames before disappearing.

"Thrask, you must be more careful with using your powers," the second demon chided, "Adair is already suspicious of us."

"We cannot afford to waste time," Thrask replied calmly, "She's the one to take Good down."


	3. Chapter 3

Charlotte trekked the concrete streets, limping slightly, and covered in cuts and bruises. She was being given strange looks by passerbys, but paid no attention to them, only intent on getting home. Finally reaching the imposing Victorian, Charlotte limped up the stairs and flung the door open.

"Charlotte! There you are!" Lila cried, embracing her daughter in a hug, making Charlotte wince. "Where have you been? Your father and I have been frantic. We had no idea where you disappeared off to!"

"I just got lost in the chaos of the fire," Charlotte replied, calming her mother. She had no idea what to think of the incident in the woods, or even if it happened for that matter, "I just need to go back to sleep."

Ignoring her mother fussing over her scratches, Charlotte walked up the stairs and slammed her door shut. Collapsing onto her bed, Charlotte was enveloped in the mess of blankets on it and quickly fell back to sleep, trying to forget what had happened.

_Looking around, Charlotte had no idea where she was. She was surrounded by pitch black rock, occasionally sparkling from the light of a flickering torch. Slowly moving forward, Charlotte tentatively looked around, but it all looked the same to her. Not knowing where to go, Charlotte slumped against a rock, confused, but soon she heard the sounds of voices. The voices were too far away to hear what was being said, but Charlotte began to move towards them nonetheless. Charlotte slowly crept to the ever-growing voices until she could decipher what they were saying. _

_ "Adair has been growing more suspicious of us lately," the first voice said in a __conspiratorial whisper._

_ "He knows nothing," the other voice replied dismissively, "He-….. Thrask, I believe our guest has finally joined us…"_

_ "Charlotte…." Thrask called, "Stop hiding, my child, we know you are here. We called you here."_

_ Charlotte slowly stepped out from the tunnel into a round room made of the same black stone, and stood facing two figures cloaked in complete. Trying to control the trembling that had begun when the figure had called her out, Charlotte tried to look calmly at the figures._

_ "Who are you?" she asked, trying to maintain a steady voice, "What do you want with me?"_

_ "We just want to introduce you to your heritage," the second man answered calmly, a smile leaking into his voice. Charlotte began to feel the fear slowly leaving her body, whoever they were she knew they wouldn't hurt her._

_ "That doesn't answer my first question. Who are you?" Charlotte demanded, staring intensely at Thrask._

Waking up, Charlotte was surrounded by almost complete darkness. Fumbling around, Charlotte looked at the time on her phone, it was past midnight. Groggily Charlotte got out of bed and staggered out of her room, in search of a glass of water. The light was nonexistent, so Charlotte moved, or at least attempted to, from memory. Finally, with plenty of swearing and toe stubbings, she made it to the bathroom and was about to turn the sink on when she heard a crash. Still being on a hyperalertness from earlier that day, Charlotte froze.

A muffled curse rose from downstairs, and Charlotte knew she wasn't alone. Turning around slightly, Charlotte began to walk out of the bathroom, but not before grabbing her straightening iron for protection. Slowly tip-toeing down the hall, Charlotte kept her ears perked up, in case the intruder made anymore sounds.

_Creakkkkkkkkkk_

The sound ripped through the house, and Charlotte froze, on top of the stairway, staring in fear at the loose floorboard under her foot. Cursing the house silently, Charlotte pulled herself into the dark alcove next to her and stood, silently, barely breathing.

Charlotte could feel her heart beating, so hard that it was about to burst out of her chest, when a soft padding sounded from below her. The padding began to move up the stairs, slowly coming closer to Charlotte. Pulling herself further into the alcove, Charlotte stared, her eyes wide as a dark figure drift past her.

Pulling herself from the darkness, Charlotte slammed the hair straightener as hard as she could across the head of the trespasser. The figure fell to the ground and without wasting anytime Charlotte kicked him in the ribs hard, knocking him over. Placing her foot on his neck, Charlotte tried to get a good look at him.

"Who are you?" She demanded, pushing her foot further into his neck. With a little gurgle and a blink, he disappeared from under Charlotte's foot. Stumbling over the missing body, Charlotte was opening her mouth to scream when a force slammed against her back. Falling to the ground, Charlotte slammed her knees with a loud thud. Scrambling forward, Charlotte turned around, looking at her attacker.

He was illuminated by a glowing blue ball, sitting in his hand. Raising this ball in his hand, the man moved closer towards her. Screaming, Charlotte threw her hands up in defense and a fiery flash flew from her, crashing into the attacker. With a throaty yell, the man disappeared in another fiery flash.

Panting, Charlotte pulled herself up, shaking uncontrollably, "…. Charlotte…?"

Charlotte turned around, and saw her parents staring at her, eyes wide in horror.

"I…..I…." Charlotte stuttered, and then turned around on her heel and ran.


	4. Chapter 4

The house stood looming over the woman, who stood on the sidewalk, drying her hands on her jeans. Taking a few quick breaths, Billie hiked up the stairs and stood outside the wooden door, deciding whether or not she should knock, but before she could make that decision the door swung open. Billie was faced with a tall teenage boy with piercing green eyes and brown hair.

"Aunt Billie! What are you doing here?" he asked, surprise evident, in his voice.

"I… I need to talk to your mom…. And your aunts. Are they here?" she replied, secretly hoping they wouldn't be home.

"Yeah, they're in the attic," he answered, sliding past her in an obvious hurry, "Well, I need to go, see you later Aunt Billie!"

"Bye Chris," she called distractedly, heading inside. Jogging up the stairs, she forced herself to keep going before she entered the attic.

"Piper! You cannot do that!" one sister exclaimed, her bright red hair contrasting sharply with her delicate pale skin.

"I don't see why not! It's just a little snooping! No personal gain, just some protection for Chris… A simple spell." Piper replied, pushing her brown hair out of her face, flipping through a large leather bound book. A third sister sat on a chair in the corner, looking at the other two in amusement.

"Chris can decide who he wants to date. I think we should leave that poor girl alone." Phoebe interjected, smiling slightly.

"Guys…. I need to talk to you," Billie interrupted, hesitantly. The three women looked up in surprise, as if they hadn't realized that she was in the room. Closing the book, the three sisters waited for her to talk.

"I need to tell you about… About a witch," Billie began taking a huge breath, "She's powerful, very powerful. More than me. Almost as powerful as you three… There's a problem."

"What's the problem? Just protect her, who's her whitelighter?" Paige replied, looking back down at the book.

"Helen, she's a new whitelighter. And that's a problem, she doesn't have enough experience. The Elders don't understand the importance of her. Phoebe, you need to look into her future, we must save her," Billie pleaded, looking desperate. The sisters shared a glance, something passing between the three. Phoebe sighed and walked forward.

"Do you have anything of hers? Without knowing who it is I can't summon a premonition," Phoebe explained. Billie rummaged around in her purse and pulled out a colorful scarf, kneading it between her hands before handing it to Phoebe.

Phoebe closed her eyes, concentrating, when suddenly a shudder ran through her body, shaking her to her core. Phoebe began to rock back and forth and her mouth began to open, and her shakes began to get even more violent.

"Phoebe?" Piper exclaimed, "What's happening? This doesn't happen to her!"

"It's the future," Billie replied, "I told you. We have a problem."

The rocking suddenly stopped and Phoebe opened her eyes, tears welling up in them.

"We have a problem."

_A calm golden light filled the air, bouncing off the pure white fog and playing on the golden white robes of those who walked the grounds. Two women walked on the edges of the grounds, one with a tightly wound brown bun of hair and the other with short loose blonde hair, obviously in a serious conversation._

_"She's interfering again, there might be something she's not telling me," Helen began, venting her frustrations._

_"Billie trained with the Charmed Ones, they never were much one for the rules, and neither is she. Just keep a close eye on your charge, there's nothing you can do about Billie," Sandra replied, sagely, smoothing her robes over, "And you need to keep an eye on this charge, she's…. different."_

_"What do you mean 'different'?"_

_"It's her heritage. It changes things, not just with her gifts, but with her. She has the power to change everything. The Elders have been watching her for a while and we must continue to do so. Things are moving at a pace that we hadn't foreseen."_

_The two women stopped, underneath an arch. They lapsed into a deep silence, both women quietly pondering the implications of what had just been said. Helen, pursed her lips, her pondering had turned into obvious deep thought, questions forming in her mind._

_"Sandra, who is she?" Helen demanded, "I need to know."_

_"That's the question, Helen, that's the big question."_

_Without saying another word Helen disappeared into a bright swirl of blue and white lights, leaving Sandra alone by the archway. Staying there for a few more minutes, Sandra stood silently until she was approached by a balding man, with piercing blue eyes._

_"What did you tell her?" he asked, breaking her from her thoughts._

_"Exactly what we talked about, Kheel, but I think we should warn them. They need to know how serious it is," Sandra chided, Kheel let this statement stand, hanging in the air between them._

_"They'll figure it out, Sandra, they're all much smarter than I think we give them credit for. They'll figure it out, and so will she. Now, they just need to figure out what we're all up against."_


	5. Chapter 5

Charlotte sat, with her knees scrunched up, on a decrepit wooden bench in the middle of a park. Despite it being in the waning weeks of spring, the trees carried few leaves on them and the branches creaked gently in the wind. The wind blew softly through Charlotte's blond hair, sending wispy strings of blond flowing in the hair. Charlotte was one of the few people in the park, two mothers walked next to each other chatting, while their kids ran around their legs, and a middle aged woman sat on a bench across the park.

"Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies," a voice chanted, drifting on the air. Charlotte looked around as she was suddenly felt a feeling a sense of weightlessness. Panicking, Charlotte dug her nails into the bench, Charlotte gritted her teeth, and slowly the feeling dissipated, but soon chanting began up again.

"Blood to blood, I summon thee," the ethereal voice called, "Blood to blood, return to me."

Gritting her teeth even hard, and digger her nails even deeper, trying to fight off the weightlessness again. Gasping as the feeling left once again, Charlotte felt something else. She looked at her hands, Charlotte had dug her hands so hard into the bench, blood was seeping from underneath her nails. Looking up, Charlotte realized that the woman who had been sitting on the bench across the park was now next to her. The woman was dressed in very drab clothing, blending in to the dreary colors of the park.

"Hello, Charlotte," she greeted, her voice a raspy one, as if she was older than she looked, sounding very familiar with Charlotte. Charlotte looked at her intently, trying to place where this woman had met her before.

"How do I…" Charlotte began before cutting herself off, staring in horror at the middle aged woman who had begun to take out a bag full of bread crumbs. Charlotte slid over on the bench, almost imperceptibly , "You were at the country club… With that man. What do you want from me?"

"I was at the country club, but I was not with that _man_," she replied, spitting that last word with venom, "And what I want is to help you. You're confused and I can explain. That _is_ what I'm for."

"I'm not confused. I know I was attacked and you were there, that's all I need to know," Charlotte retorted, her voice cracking, standing up, "I don't know who you are and I don't care, I'm out of here and you better not follow me. Or I swear…."

"You swear you'll… What? Blow me up? Like that warlock last night?" Helen demanded, sounding aggressive, but her face remained passive.

Charlotte stopped in midstep, her body tightening up. Turning on her heel, Charlotte glared down the woman sitting calmly on the bench, "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Helen casually responded, picking some nonexistent dirt off her shirt, "I know what happened, but better, yet, I know _why_."

Charlotte sat back down, knowing she was cornered, the seat creaking slightly as Charlotte fidgeted, nervous. The two sat in silence for some time, Helen had resorted to throwing her bread crumbs to the few birds that had gathered around them. Charlotte, on the other hand, rubbed her hands together, kneading them into oblivion, the blood from her fingers drying slightly.

"Why should I trust you?" Charlotte asked after sometime thinking, formulating her questions. She knew few things in this situation, but she knew she had to appear strong.

"You have no choice. I have the answers, and you have nowhere and no one to turn to."

Charlotte took a deep breath, making her decision. First, Charlotte opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Slowing herself down, Charlotte took another deep breath, "Fine. Tell me everything."

Helen spun a story of witches, demons, and warlocks, while Charlotte stared at the ground, her eyes wide. Helen told Charlotte of her role, as her whitelighter, but there was one thing Helen did not tell Charlotte. Helen didn't tell Charlotte of the dangers she faced or the true power she held. Helen didn't tell Charlotte that her choices would change the world.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, so I hope you like the story so far. If you could give me some reviews and tell me how you guys like it and some things that I could work on. Enjoy!**

"But where do I go now?" Charlotte asked, her voice tinged with slight desperation, "My parents saw me vanquish that…. Warlock? Yeah, warlock, I don't think I can face them again."

Helen thought on it for a minute before answering, "I have another charge, a witch, she runs a hotel. She'll take you in."

Charlotte hesitate before she nodded her head and Helen grabbed her shoulder, without any hesitation, orbing them away. Charlotte was overwhelmed with a sense of no gravity, and then a sudden rush of motion. Helen landed with a practiced grace, but Charlotte landed heavily, steadying herself on Helen.

Looking around, Charlotte found herself in a small, dingy room, with some light seeping out from under the door. Extricating themselves from buckets, mops, and brooms the two stepped out of the closet into a bright, neutrally painted hallway, lined with doors on either side. Taking the lead, Helen led Charlotte down the hallway, to a common room at the end of the hall. Walking over to the empty greeting desk, Helen rang the bell, folding her hands on the desk.

A teenage girl walked through a door behind the desk, a smile plastered on her face. Charlotte's jaw dropped, she was a model, about six feet tall, with long flowing blond hair, and icy blue eyes. Charlotte looked over at Helen, who just had a look of exasperation on her face, almost with a mixture of boredom.

"Hi, welcome to Safe Night's Inn, I'm Natasha, how may I help you?" She asked, that smile frozen on her face.

"Natasha, stop showing off, I have a favor to ask you," Helen snapped. Natasha's smile dripped off her face, and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine," Natasha agreed, sighing heavily before she began to chant, "I send out this sign, to return my face of mine, send this body back, to its rightful track."

As Charlotte watched, a series of white orbs surrounded the woman, until she was obscured from view, and swirled around her. When the orbs left, the woman was about 8 inches shorter, with short auburn hair. She looked to be in her mid twenties, with a carefree look about her.

"You never let me have any fun, Helen!" Natasha protested, before she looked at Charlotte, as if she hadn't noticed her before, "Who's this?"

"She's the favor I needed to ask you. This is Charlotte, a new sister witch," Helen explained, glancing over at Charlotte, as if apologizing for Natasha's behavior, "She needs a place to stay. Her parents may have seen her vanquish a warlock."

Surprise flashed across Natasha's face, and she regarded Charlotte as if she was now impressed with him. Not saying a word, the two sized each other up, trying to gauge each other. Standing up straight, Charlotte stared down Natasha, making sure that Natasha would not underestimate her.

"Fine, but you can't stay here for free, I expect you to do work, in return you'll have a place to stay…. and other perks," Natasha agreed, trailing off with a devious smile. Helen noticed this and frowned, she knew Natasha was unpredictable, good, but unpredictable.

"Natasha," Helen began sternly, looking her straight in the eyes, "Listen to me. Keep Charlotte here, she needs protection, nothing else. I'm going to cloak you two, but I cannot be here all the time. There is evil after Charlotte and she cannot be found."

While listening, the smile had left Natasha's face and she looked serious. After Helen finished, Natasha stood silently before she nodded slowly. Helen grimaced before she orbed away, leaving the two women by themselves. Regaining a mischievous air, Natasha turned to Charlotte and grinned at her.

"So what's your power?" Natasha demanded.

Charlotte stared at Natasha blankly, "What do you mean? Like witch power?"

Natasha sighed and held out her hand, with a flick of her wrist and a quick red flash a book materialized in it, "Your active power? Every witch has one. I'm still new to this whole thing, so I'm still working on my conjuration. I can only make things come to me from a certain area, but soon, soon it'll grow."

"I…. I have no idea, how do I find out?" Charlotte asked, staring, wide eyed, at the book in Natasha's hand.

Natasha frowned, obviously confused, "Well how did you kill that warlock? What happened?"

"I… I don't know that either, there was this… Flash… From my hands and he… Died."

"Hmmm.. I don't quite know, we could check my Book of Shadows, but it's pretty bare," Natasha replied, confused, "Anyway, I suppose we should check you in and get you settled, the way Ellen made it sound you'll be staying here for a while. I have a room at the end of the hall, last door on the left, it's nothing special, but neither is this place."

"Whatever you have it's fine, I'm just happy to be staying off of the street," Charlotte replied, taking the keys that Natasha handed her after typing some things in her computer.

"When you settle in, we can head down to town, I noticed Helen didn't bring your things, we can pick some stuff up for you," Natasha explained and Charlotte flashed a smile at her before heading down the hallway.

The hall was a long one, the walls, upon closer inspection, were slightly beat up with dents here and there and some darkening. The paintings on the wall were the quintessential hotel paintings, nondescript watercolors of grassy hills or oceans. Reaching the end of the hall, Charlotte turned left and tried to unlock the door. The key stuck and Charlotte jiggled the doorknob back and forth, trying to open it up.

"You need help with that?" a voice asked from behind her and Charlotte turned around. Grinning at her was a boy, around Charlotte's age, with dirty blonde hair and a blinding smile.

Charlotte blushed a little, "Uh yeah, sorry, I think it's stuck in there."

Sliding past her, the boy turned the key in the door and slid the door open with ease. Charlotte blushed even harder, and smiled at the boy.

"Uh… thanks. I'm Charlotte, by the way."

The boy smiled at her even wider, "Henry."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updates, school and all. But I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think. I would appreciate some more reviews, telling me what I can work on and all of that. Thanks and enjoy!**

_Charlotte found herself back in that room of black stone, the fire reflecting on the wall, but this time Charlotte was alone. Looking around, Charlotte had saw where those two men had been, on a raised dais, with two inset thrones. Walking closer to the platform, Charlotte began to feel something growing in her chest. It felt as if something was slowly grasping her heart, squeezing it tighter, but Charlotte didn't stop walking. _

_ There was something…. Calling her towards the platform. Charlotte began to fight through the pain, slowly walking towards the platform. The room echoed with the sound of her labored footsteps, the sound bouncing around Charlotte. Setting her foot on the platform, the pain dissipated and Charlotte took a deep breath. Charlotte hesitated, not knowing what to do now, the desire to get on the platform was gone and now she didn't know what to do._

_ Charlotte sat down on one of the thrones, throwing her feet up over the side. Sitting there, she casually surveyed the room. It was a lot bigger than she had originally realized, and more intricate. It extended far back, with intricate columns and arches, lining the parallel walls, with fiery torches bouncing light around. Without notice, rows upon rows of figures appeared, all kneeling down, filling up the room. But what grabbed Charlotte's attention was the two figures in front of her, standing tall, in dark hooded robes , looking down upon her._

_ "You came."_

_ "I don't think that I had a choice." Charlotte tried to still her voice, but it shook, her eyes darting around, examining the two figures._

_ "You did actually. If you weren't at least…. Curious, shall we say," the figure explained, smiling slightly, "We couldn't have forced you here."_

_ Charlotte sighed, staring intensely at the two men. Hoisting herself up, she stood, almost on the same level as the two men. Staring under their hoods, Charlotte saw two middle aged looking men, with severely lined faces._

_ "Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?" Charlotte demanded, staring the men down, "I want to know who you are. I want to know who your little friends are. And I want to know what you want with me. Now."_

_ The men shared a look and stared back at Charlotte, "What we want? We want to help you. That's what. You have power, intense power and we want to teach you how to use it. Bring the man forth."_

_ A scream emanated from within the ranks of faceless men, and Charlotte's head swung towards it, now ignoring the two men in front of her. A man was being dragged, on his knees, by two men in black, towards Charlotte. Throwing the man down, the two thugs looked up expectantly at the men in front of Charlotte. Charlotte stared down in horror at the man who had begun to cry miserably, the sobs shaking his body to the core._

_ "What… What's happening? Who is he?" Charlotte asked. The two men shared a look and then looked back at Charlotte._

_ "He's going to help you unleash your power, at least, if you listen to us," one of the figures explained, "We can unlock all of your powers that come with being a witch. A powerful witch. Do you think that weak witch you're staying with can help you?"_

_ Charlotte stared at the men, not quite knowing what was going on. Her eyes tried to meet the man, who was offering her power, but they kept drifting over to the man crying on the ground. His sobs had quieted, but he was still laying on the ground, obviously giving up with life._

_ "…What do you mean?"_

_ "That warlock you vanquished was just the beginning, you can harness power no single witch has known in generations," the man explained, "All you have to do is feel it. With your heart and mind. Feel the anger that you have suppressed. Your parents are scared of you, your friends are gone, and you're in a world where you don't understand anything."_

_ At first, Charlotte tried to ignore what he was saying, but it got to her. Slowly, the anger started welling up inside of her, a burning feeling growing in her body. Slowly the feeling began to coalesce in her chest, and the burning got even more intense. The feeling moved from her chest and erupted in her right hand. Screaming loudly, Charlotte looked down at her hand. In the center of her palm lay an orange ball of fire, floating slightly above her palm._

_ "Kill him."_

_ Charlotte stared at them in abject horror, and back down at the man, who had raised his head and was now staring at Charlotte. His face was filled with utter horror as he stared at the ball of fire in her hand._

_ "No," Charlotte answered, staring in complete anger and horror at the men. The men nudged their heads and the two men who had been holding that man hostage advanced on Charlotte, creating blue balls of electric light in their own hands. Screaming in horror, Charlotte flung her hand forward, launching her fireball and incinerating one of her attackers._

"Charlotte!" A voice yelled, sounding far off, "Charlotte! You have to wake up!"

"…Natasha?" Charlotte asked groggily, trying to open her eyes all the way, "Where am I?"

"You're in your room. What happened?"

"I don't know."


End file.
